Rail firm recoups £493,000 from train fare dodgers
1,470 PASSENGERS TAKEN TO COURT BETWEEN JANUARY AND OCTOBER
EAST Midlands Railway has recovered almost £500,000 through the courts after passengers who attempted to dodge fares were successfully prosecuted.
From January 1 to October 13, revenue protection officers and onboard staff have issued 9,642 notices and prosecuted 1,470 fare avoiders, returning a combined total of £493,000.
These fines and prosecutions were made for several reasons, including passengers travelling without a valid ticket, fraudulently travelling on a child’s ticket and travelling beyond the destination of their ticket.
People that were dealt with by the courts had travelled without a ticket and refused to pay for their journey and the corresponding fine.
The sum of money that has been recovered through fines and fraudulent travellers in courts will help reduce costs for taxpayers.
Neil Grabham, customer services director at East Midlands Railway, said: “The vast majority of our customers always buy a ticket, and they understand that for the railway to successfully operate, improve, and secure investment, fares need to be paid for.
“Sadly though, there are a minority of determined people who always look to evade paying or look for ways to work the system.
“We have recently added to our revenue protection teams and created a totally new fraud team, all of whom will be doing everything they can to reduce ticketless travel and hold persistent offenders to account.’’
Speaking to people across Nottinghamshire about the fines, residents seem pleased that action has been taken.
Student, Nana Baluah, 20, of Beeston, said: “I think it’s terrible. Money’s being taken away from the company. People should pay what they’re supposed to pay as it’s not fair.”
Civil servant, Lisa Hutson, 55, said: “I’m not surprised. People on the train seldom check them.
“They’ve got to have more staff if they don’t want ticket dodging to be an issue and they definitely need more staff.”
Melina Richardson, 49, of Beeston, said: “I’m a little surprised, I didn’t think it was this bad, they definitely need more checks if they want this to stop.”
When asked her thoughts of the fines, housekeeper, Lynette Cooper, 46, of St Ann’s, said: “I’m not surprised, but I guess it’s not a bad thing since it’s coming out of their pockets and they earn enough to pay it off”
Yoga teacher, Kat Stevenson, 28, of Mapperley, said: “Not really surprised. There’s no way of checking them.
“No-one ever checks mine. They need more staff to improve this.”